Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday, praising the “very close” relations between Russia and Iran.
The meeting comes as Iran prepares to… Israel's response to missile attacks in Tel Aviv earlier this week.
“We actively cooperate internationally and our assessments of world events are often very similar,” Putin said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Cooperation between the two sanctioned nations has sparked renewed concern in the West. U.S. officials have said Tehran is supplying ballistic missiles to Moscow for use in its fight against Ukraine.
In return, Russia is suspected of providing Iran with sensitive nuclear technology as it moves closer to becoming a fully nuclear-armed state.
Right-wing Russian President Vladimir Putin met left-wing Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday, praising the “very close” relations between Russia and Iran.
“Russia is the world's largest nuclear power. It has an advantage even over the United States when it comes to nuclear weapons, especially in terms of tactical warheads, and of course it can share them.” – Rebekah Koffler, former senior U.S. Intelligence Agency (DIA) official and author of “Putin's guide” he told Fox News Digital.
“Nuclear concerns are not the only potential – strategic potentials of concern – there are also cyber and space weapons,” she said.
Former President Donald Trump launched the US Space Force in August 2019 to counter Russia and China's capabilities in space.
“Russia once again has one of the world's most robust anti-space weapons and a developed, mature space warfare doctrine,” Koffler continued.
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“Nuclear weapons don't work without satellites. No matter what Iran currently has, no matter how close it is to developing real capabilities, it cannot do anything without a satellite network. You can't target acquisition, you can't command and control, missile warning and so on, you can't deny an adversary's command and control capability, and that's what Russia can provide to Iran and probably has provided to Iran to some extent, although there is no conclusive analysis.”
During the meeting, Putin reportedly supported Pezeshkian's condemnation of Israel. Pezeshkian said Israel must “stop killing innocent people” and accused the United States and the European Union of supporting Israel in the war.
They met on the sidelines of an international conference in Turkmenistan. According to state news agency RIA, Pezehskian agreed to visit his counterpart in Russia.
“Economically and culturally, our communication is strengthening and becoming more solid day by day,” Pezeshkian, Iran's official IRNA news agency, told Putin.
“The growing trend of cooperation between Iran and Russia, given the will of the top leaders of both countries, should be accelerated to strengthen these ties,” he said.
The meeting comes as Iran prepares for an Israeli response to the missile attacks on Tel Aviv earlier this week.
Israel previously had close relations with Russia, but Russia now sees them as siding with the United States (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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The meeting marks a clear reorientation for Putin, who, according to Koffler, has historically been “the most pro-Israel president in Russian history.” However, both Russia and Iran face tough sanctions from the US
About 20% of the Jewish population in Israel are Russian emigrants. “Jews are traditionally very intelligent, well-educated and highly employable. And given Russia's demographic problems, Putin would ideally like these people, their children or grandchildren to return to Russia,” Koffler explained.
The Israeli prime minister initially opposed supplying weapons to Ukraine after Russia invaded. But the Pentagon used a little-known stockpile of American weapons held in Israel for defense purposes to help meet Ukraine's artillery needs last year.
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During the war, the United States offered Ukraine more than $100 billion in arms aid. Russia sees Israel, which is also armed thanks to American supplies, as belonging to the American camp.
“It wasn't Iran that put pressure on Russia. Iran has no influence. Russia has always been a leader in this relationship,” Koffler said. “But it was Russia that became oriented towards Iran as a result of the Biden administration’s policies.”
